A/N:
Dear readers,
Good morning/afternoon/evening! I'm sorry for such a huge delay...I only recently got my computer back from my friend who was fixing it for me. As you can guess, no comp means no writing; as well, no comp means no posting. Until I catch up, or have no more stories to post (no stock), I will post two stories a night.
Here is the belated 7/19's update. The belated 7/20 update will be an one-shot, which will be up by tonight.
From here, Chopped will be on hiatus, since I currently don't have enough to post at the moment. The ideas are there...just not in writing yet. I'm not sure when it will return.
I hope you enjoy today's reading. Comments appreciated!
I do not own or have the rights to Fire Emblem Awakening or any of the characters. I do not own Chopped, or have any rights to the Food Network series.
"Let's take a look at our contestants, shall we? Let's go in order, first up is Sully! Judges, what is she doing?"
"…It's a vat." Lucina stared, face blank. The unknown liquid was a deep, dark gray; rarely a color you would see in nature.
"…A bubbling, vat." Chrom's face echoed the rest of table, excluding Robin, whose eyes were on her son, and Frederick's, whose face remained as professional as ever.
"What's in the vat, judges?"
"…I don't want to know."
"…We'll leave it at that, then. Next up is…"
"Frederick!" The faces turned to Robin, who started tapping the knight with her tome.
"Yes." He responded in a monotone voice, with his infamous smile.
"What's Morgan doing?" They turned to the younger tactician, who was chopping vegetables. Next to him sat a whole chicken. When finished, he took a slab of butter, dumping that and the vegetables into a pot.
"I believe he's making a mirepoix, which is a combination of carrots, onions, and celery. There are other vegetable combinations, but the mirepoix is the most common."
"What do you think his plan is, Sir-?" Before Anna could finish, they heard a scream coming from the audience; Morgan was prepping the chicken, with a cleaver spinning in the air above him.
"Morgan!" Robin tried to get out of her seat, setting herself to hit down the knife with a blast of Elwind, but she knew it wouldn't make it in time.
"Calm down, Mother." By now, the whole arena was focused on the boy. Morgan had a relaxed smile on his face, even as the utensil came falling. He dodged within a fraction of a second, catching the cleaver by the handle. His smile switched to something quite familiar; a look they all saw before, but couldn't place. He then swung the cleaver down several times, cleanly chopping the chicken. When he finished, the pieces were placed in an oiled pan, cooking them until brown. The arena was silent, until Gaius whistled, and the audience, with a few contestants and judges, clapped. Morgan did a slight bow, but promptly continued with his work. Slowly the kitchen bustle started again.
"Chrom! Chrom! Did you see!" Robin violently tugged the lord's cape, causing him to shake. "My son can cook!" The excitement and pride was obvious on the tactician's face.
"I'm not sure you can call that cooking, Robin." However, by then, the platinum was bothering her left side, singing the same praises. "That was amazing knife techniques, though."
"Father?"
"Yes, Lucina?"
"Did something seem familiar to you, especially the expression Morgan had when whacking the chicken into chunks?"
"You felt it too, then. I can't place it…"
"It did feel familiar, didn't it?" The two lords turned to see the dancer, also in thought. "Like we see that expression every day."
"Can either of you place it, Robin? Frederick?"
"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Chrom."
"Neither do I, milord."
"Really? Two of our most observant Shepherds-" They heard a cough behind them. "…Is something the matter, Anna?"
"We're in a cooking competition, Lord Chrom, not a gossip party."
"We're not-!"
"To answer the question you were asking before, Anna," Frederick cut in, his professional demeanor returning. "Morgan seems to be making a stock or a base. See, after browning the chicken, he placed it into the pot with the vegetables."
"I wonder, though, to get the maximum flavor," Eyes turned to the dancer, one of the Shepherds who almost always helped in the mess tents. "Will there be enough time? Stocks take hours to make, successfully, yet Morgan has less than one."
"He did use pre-made chicken stock, which will give some flavor."
"I believe he also threw in a bundle of herbs. What, I couldn't tell from here, but that should help develop some flavor."
"Is he making a soup, then?" Lucina looked at the opposing side, while Chrom sat there puzzled, but trying to act as if he understood where the conversation was going.
"It's possible," Robin cocked her head, "But that doesn't seem right, being that he seems to be slicing salad greens and frying bacon."
"A salad, maybe?" Olivia offered.
"A salad with a soup broth?" Frederick remained staring.
"A dressing perhaps?"
"I've never heard of such, Lady Lucina."
"Well," They turned to Anna. "Fifteen minutes have passed, and you've only analyzed two dishes. Can we move on?"
"…I-I'm sorry. After Morgan's performance, I stopped paying attention to the others."
"…Myself included. Father?"
"Don't ask me, Lucina. I still don't really get what's happening, other than there are nice smells coming from some of the stations."
"Frederick? Robin? Do either of you have anything to say?" Anna looked at the middle chairs. Although the red head's face didn't show it, she worried that the show was going awry.
They looked at each other. "You've been paying attention a bit, right?"
"I have. You?"
"Enough, I guess." Robin cracked her neck, thinking. "How about we do a speed explanation. We'll go through each contestant, and explain what they did these past fifteen minutes."
"Fair enough. Should I start?"
"I can." The tactician took a sip of water, then a deep breath. "We'll start with Stahl and Gaius, since theirs are the most similar. Stahl is going with a quiche. He's using several vegetables including spinach, onions, and mushrooms, along with bacon. Currently, he's sautéing everything, and I assume he'll place it in the pie shell once finished, covered with cheese and his egg mixture. Gaius on the other hand is making a custard pie. Unlike Stahl, who is using premade dough, Gaius is making his from scratch. I only worry that his pastry might end up too sweet, being that his tongue has a high sweet tolerance."
"Tharja seems to be making an eggs benedict. The doneness of the poached egg, as well as the hollandaise sauce, will either make or break her dish. It seems she's also taking a few chances here. Although she's using breakfast muffins as the base, it seems she's grinding her own meat into a patty, versus using the more common ham or bacon. I missed the meat variety though."
"Bear."
"…Bear?" Frederick paled. "Y-you're jesting, right?"
"I am, yes. I think its venison; deer to be exact. I think she plans to cook the patties in bacon fat, to give it the pork taste."
Frederick nodded, composing himself again. "If she pulls this off, the dish should be fairly good."
Robin hummed. "Next we have Donnel, Kellam, and Ricken; all are making an everyday breakfast; eggs scrambled, sunny-side, and etc. The three seem to be dealing with the sides right now; toast, meats, or cutting fruits. However, they'll need to elevate their dishes if they wish to remain in the running."
"The last competitors are Vaike and Gregor. Vaike seems to be going for a breakfast casserole. He sliced his potatoes, and is currently boiling them. At his station, there also seems to be a tomato sauce cooking, and he's currently chopping onions and bell peppers for the casserole. If I'm correct, at his station, he also has ground meat of some type, either pork or beef, which he will hopefully brown before layering the casserole, and several cheeses. Gregor, unlike his competitors, is going for something non-breakfast. It seems to be an egg soup. Similar to Morgan, he's focusing on the broth at the moment; however, he also made egg noodles, and is prepping various vegetables and meats to probably add to the soup." The knight took a breath, a drink of a water, and turned to Robin, "That's everyone, correct?"
"I believe so." She looked at the clock. "Forty minutes remaining." Their tablemates and Anna looked at them, stunned. "Did we say something wrong?" They shook their heads.
"Hey! You ready for judging?" Everyone turned, seeing the fiery-red Paladin standing before them. "Drink it while it's hot!" Following her statement, several more Annas, dressed in sleek white dress shirts, a black vest, and black slacks, served Sully's "drink." The judges stared at the offering before them. The liquid was still bubbling, but it was now a dark green. "Come on then!"
"…Before we…sample this, Sully." The tactician eyed the concoction warily. "What is it?"
"A protein shake, using eggs as the base."
"I…see…" The platinum grabbed a spoon, dunking it in the liquid. Pulling it out, the bowl of the spoon was gone.
"A hot protein shake?" Lucina looked warily at the contents.
"Yep!"
"…What's in it?" Frederick did his best to keep a straight face, but like the others on the table, he obviously had no urge to try it.
"Well, eggs, obviously; steak, liver, and bee larvae, for extra protein; vegetables like spinach, turnips, kale, potatoes, carrots, eggplants, onions, and dandelion greens; some apples and grapes for sweetness; banana for smoothness; and pepper for a kick!"
"Jalapeno?"
"Yah, and some cayenne, ghost chili, and black pepper."
"How…how did you prepare the…ingredients?" Olivia smiled, but it didn't carry to her eyes.
"Crushed everything myself, threw it into the pot, then when it was done, blended everything for good measure."
"Oh god-" Olivia stopped in the middle of the sentence, looking at Sully, who was obviously getting irritated. "Goody!" She picked up the mug, bringing it close enough to her mouth to drink, but quickly put it back down once she smelled the contents. The "shake" was indescribable…in a bad way. Imagine a Risen, garbage, and sulfur. Put that together, and the liquid still smelled one hundred…no, that wasn't right…two hundred times worse.
"Aren't you guys going to sample it?" Sully leaned on the table, where all the girls backed away. A vein on the red head's face looked ready to burst.
"One last question, Sully." Like Olivia, Robin was trying to hide behind Frederick; however, the tactician also had a hold on Chrom's cape. Lucina, on the other hand, was trying to disappear behind her father.
"Yah, what is it, Robby?" This made both dancer and tactician shirk further behind the Great Knight.
"Wh-why did you enter the competition? You and Donnel are already married…"
"It's a competition! How else am I supposed to show these men I'm the best!"
"F-fair enough…" The table became silent. Even some of the competitors looked over to the judges, waiting for them to taste whatever concoction Sully made. A minute went by with no movement or words exchanged; each judge waiting for the fool who would drink the swi…mixture first.
"Well! It's getting cold!" Some reason this made everyone look to Frederick, who was believed to be the oldest. Although the man had never been bested by Sully, and he was known to not have any fear, the brunet knew this liquid was NOT to be trifled with. Due to this, the knight was wary, even more wary then the day he, Chrom, and Lissa met Robin; and that was saying a lot.
"Enough of this!" Chrom pounded the table, standing, causing his chair, behind him, to topple. He grabbed the cup, letting the liquid pour into his mouth.
"Milord!"
"Chrom!"
"Father!"
Putting the cup down, the cobalt licked his lips. "Not ba-" Stopping in mid-sentence, his eyes glazed. He stumbled backwards, falling, but he was caught at the last instance by his daughter, before hitting the floor. The tactician, being an tactician, saw the man's health drop to one HP.
"MEDIC!"
This caused the room to panic; various nouns representing Chrom were shouted throughout the arena. Some of the contestants tried to make their way over, however, the Annas stopped them, telling the participants to keep cooking. Lissa and Sumia, both in the audience, came racing down; the cleric with staff in hand.
"Did you even try this before serving, Sully?"
"N-no…" An uncharacteristic stutter came from the knights lips. "Should I have?" The tactician could only stare at her blankly.
"Wh-what do we do now, Robin?" Olivia stood at the platinum's side, gripping her coat.
"…I-I don't know. Chrom should be fine with Lissa here, but should we even go on? What do you think, Fred-" The two girls turned to the Great Knight, who was staring blankly at his lord, muttering to himself. "Frederick?"
"…horri…liege…die…"
"Fre-Frederick?" Olivia lightly tapped the man.
"…humiliating…"
"Frederick?"
"…must…follow…"
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" With her hand, Robin smacked the dazed knight on the cheek, causing him to come out of his stupor, holding his face in confusion. "Better?" The brunet looked down at his lord again, biting his lip. "Seriously, Frederick! What's the matter?"
"I'm a horrible knight, allowing his liege to die in such a manner…"
"Frederick, he's not dead. He's doing fine, see. Lissa's taking care of him. There's even color in his cheeks."
"It's humiliating to allow milord to fall before myself! What kind of knight am I?"
"It's not your fault, Frederick. Chrom is the idiot who decided to drink that poisonous swill." The tactician turned quickly to Sully. "No offense, of course!" The Paladin grunted, but made no movement towards the platinum; she now knew it was poisonous swill.
"I must follow milord's actions! A knight, allowing his lord to die before himself is inexcusable!" He launched himself to his mug, which was still bubbling. The two girls grabbed his arms, holding him back for a second, at least.
"A little help here!" Sully made a move forward, but the brunet's motivation was too strong, knocking all three over. Rushing towards his drink, the mug jumped off the table just as he was about to grip it. The crazed Great Knight turned, seeing the tactician sprawled on the ground like the others, but with her Elwind open.
"Not on my watch!" He tsked, reaching for the other cups; however, all were blasted away before the man could even get close. The tactician sighed, "That should be-" Getting up, she stopped in mid-sentence, seeing Chrom's cup in the knight's grip. Damn! There was still some inside! "You idiot! Stop!" But, before the platinum could finish, the liquid was in Frederick's mouth. Instantly, the man's face showed the thought everyone else was thinking; he really should not have done that.
The brunet sat down, lowering the mug as well, cheeks still filled with the liquid, debating what to do; spit it out or swallow. His brain told him to spit it out, which was what any normal human being would do, but his training, his knowledge of being a gentlemen, told him that it was unbecoming and disrespectful to even thinking of such action. So, he sat there, debating. The taste was getting worse, not better. It wasn't even becoming palatable, like other foods do, over time.
"Spit it out, Frederick!"
He was shaking; it was becoming that unbearable. He felt Robin's fingers intertwine with his as she repeated her sentiment. With his left hand on the table, he hit it down once…twice…three times, then finally swallowed.
He took several deep breaths, but even then, his eyes started to glaze. "O-one…" He shakily said; even now, still trying to be a judge. "…Good…effort…Sully…" Like Chrom before him, he blacked out.
"Frederick!"
"That idiot…" Lissa mumbled, looking over from where she sat near her brother. "I'll be right there, Robin, once I get Chrom stabilized."
The tactician nodded, dropping the knight's hand. She shook her head, took a breath, then looked directly at Sully. "I'm sorry, Sully. Even if you paid me all the money in the world, I wouldn't drink your shake. I have to give you a zero."
"Z-zero from me as well…" Olivia said, still on the ground, slightly shaking from the previous scene. "If it creates a near-death experience like that, I won't drink it."
"Negative one-hundred!" Lucina shouted near Chrom, tears in her eyes. "You almost killed Father!"
Sully shirked from the younger lord's reaction. "I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean for this to happen."
"We know, Sully." Robin was gently patting the woman's back. "I'm sure Chrom doesn't blame you, and it might be best, for all of us, to just forget this whole experience." She led the Paladin away, pushing her towards her daughter, Kjelle, to get her into the audience section.
"Wh-what do we do now, Robin?"
"Well, we got the scores from everyone, except Chrom."
"Lucina's score will be zero, since we don't go lower than that on the ranking." They turned to host Anna, who smiled weakly. "Once we get Chrom's score, and the health returns to our two male judges, we'll continue forward."
"But, didn't this whole thing end horribly?"
"Still, don't want to ruin the dreams of these young men waiting, do you, Robin?" The platinum turned to see a few contestants finished cooking, waiting intently at their stations for Robin's reply. She looked at Chrom, who was now awake, whispering into Sumia's ear, and Frederick, who was now being healed/lectured by Lissa.
"I suppose I have no choice…"
"That's the spirit!"